Altered Zones x 5X5W Update

[click here for full-size poster]

Update: Girl Unit has unfortunately had to drop out of SXSW due to visa issues. However, we're thrilled to announce that Montreal dream-pop artist Grimes was kind enough to fill in on short notice and will now be opening the showcase on Wednesday at noon. Her debut full-length, Halfaxa, dropped last fall on Arbutus, and if you haven't checked it out yet, you should really do that. You can download the whole thing here for free, and donate if you like what you hear.

Altered Zones is coming to SXSW, and we are basically throwing the party of our dreams. Now it might be our first year repping in Texas, but we're no strangers to the flood of options spread over those four days in March, where another crowded, ass-reeking backroom beckons you at every turn. We wanted to do more than just put some bands we like up on a stage. We wanted to do something that not only supports the artists we love, but also brings the visual aesthetic of our site into the real world. Ideally, something that lives up to our name.

So we thought about our favorite kinds of parties-- the ones you find yourself in at 3 a.m. on your last night in Texas. These are the parties this pilgrimage is supposed to be about, but which we're often too exhausted to embrace by the time they roll around. So instead, we're throwing that party on Wednesday afternoon, deep inside the dark, windowless, neon-blazing wolf den known only as 'ND,' a black box we'll have bursting with massive visuals, flashing lights, and fucking amazing music.

Taking full advantage of ND's potential for sensory overload, we've hooked up with Austin-based multimedia artists Tommyboy and VidKidz, who'll be casting mind-shredding live video genius onto the venue's eye-popping 30x20-foot, floor-to-ceiling HD projection wall. We can barely count the hours we've spent transfixed by these dudes' insane online video mixes, but we always come out the other side feeling like we just time traveled through an internet k-hole. It's something we're pretty sure everyone should experience at least once.

Like AZ itself, the transportive environment is just a visual extension of the music, and we could not be more excited that this party is being graced by performances from these artists who, to us, are among the most creative in the DIY underworld. Their music isn't just 'new' in the temporal sense, but truly new in the progressive sense-- artists we admire for their rulebook-burning approach and dedication to the advancement of the form.

Btw, we don't really believe in too much mystical shit, but we just realized this is our 1,000th post, and somehow that seems like a good sign. Just keepin' it weird, bros.

Wednesday, March 16th
ND @ 501 Studios
E. 5th + Brushy St. (map it)

-- Schedule
05:00 John Maus
04:00 Puro Instinct
03:00 Pictureplane
02:15 Sleep ∞ Over
01:30 Laurel Halo
12:45 Matthewdavid
12:00 Grimes
+ Weird Magic DJs
+ Visuals by Tommyboy + Vid Kidz